The present invention relates generally to telecommunications switching systems, and more particularly to switchboard attendant automating systems used with such switching systems.
Attendant switchboards or console systems are well known in the art and serve a necessary function in facilitating the completion of many telephone calls through on-premise facilities. The need for such attendant systems is due, in a large part, to the lack of information to the caller which is necessary to complete the call to a desired destination. While in some instances calls cannot be completed because of particular facility inadequacies, the majority of situations simply involve the lack of information on the part of the caller.
Major efforts and expenditures have been undertaken to aid telephone users in supplying the information necessary to complete calls. Large and complex centralized attendant complexes and intercept systems have been employed to meet the increasing caller demands for assistance in completing telephone calls. U.S. Pat. No. 3,111,561, for example, discloses an intercept system which merely switches various routine prerecorded messages to the calling party, and as a last resort connects the party to an operator. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,473 the centralized attendant arrangement is aimed at reducing the number of attendants needed for a plurality of on-premise switching systems by centralizing a fewer number of attendants and allocating the services thereof to the switching system as needed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,772 describes a system which employs a plurality of remote site concentrators which serve a corresponding plurality of central offices sites. The remote sites concentrate operator requests into a smaller number of lines, all of which are directed to a computerized central site which further concentrates the lines and makes any operation request available to any switchboard attendant.
While the noted systems serve an intended purpose, they offer little help in assisting the completion of calls through on-premises switching systems such as Private Branch Exchanges (PBX's), key telephone systems, automatic call distributors (ACD's) and the like where, because of both the nature of the facility or the lack of information, the caller requires the eventual aid of a switchboard attendant.
In a PBX telecommunication system, for example, an outside caller in many cases cannot directly reach a desired PBX subscriber station set, as the general directory number identifies only the business concern, and does not uniquely identify the station set of the party with whom communications is desired. With conventional on-premises PBX switching systems or the like, an outside caller's request for service is generally processed by a local central office (CO) which forwards the request for service through a trunk to the PBX system where the call is finally completed. In these instances, the calling party must first dial the general seven-digit business directory number, communicate to the PBX operator the particular extension number of the desired station set, or the called party's name if the extension number is not known to the caller. The operator or attendant then completes the call by dialing into the PBX system the desired station set number. This procedure is commonplace in PBX systems, as well as the other noted types of on-premises switching systems, and represents a needless waste of time and duplicated effort especially when the caller knows the station number, but, because it is initially unrecognizable to the PBX system when received over an incoming trunk, cannot dial it directly himself.
This traditional shortcoming of on-premises telecommunications systems has been overcome to a certain degree with the use of Direct Inward Dial (DID) trunk facilities where the calling party initially dials the three-digit prefix, and the four-digit extension number. However, because specialized DID trunk facilities require both cooperation between a central office and a PBX system, and a unique telephone numbering plan within the nationwide numbering plan, such an alternative is costly and thus may not be economically justifiable. In addition, many on-premises switching systems simply cannot accommodate DID equipment.
With the foregoing in mind, there is a need to provide equipment associated with such on-premises switching systems which interacts with the caller and enables an incoming call to be completed directly to the station set when the caller has the information necessary to complete such call--all without the intervention of an attendant, which, in this instance, would be entirely redundant and thus involve a duplicated effort.
There is also a need to supplement on-premises switching systems with equipment for initially informing the caller of the identity of the business concern so that if the general seven-digit directory number was initially misdialed, there is no further need to proceed with the call. In addition, there is a need for equipment which solicits from the caller, by way of an instructional message, information concerning the desired extension number, and if known, to then dial it to effect a direct connection to the desired party. In this manner, all the relevant information known by the caller is used to complete the call directly to the desired extension before resort is had, if any, to the assistance of an operator or attendant.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a system for use with on-premises switching systems which is interactive with the calling party by audio messages to solicit entry into the PBX system, and to receive and utilize information from the caller, which information would otherwise be normally supplied by an operator or attendant. The switching system is thus able to complete the communicaion path between the calling party and the station set without the assistance of a switchboard attendant.
It is another object of the invention to provide a PBX intercept system which relieves the workload of the on-premises attendant, and which utilizes the existing facilities of the on-premises switching system in such a manner that no modifications are required.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a PBX intercept system which informs callers of often-called numbers, such as a sales department, and to dial abbreviated numbers to reach such departments, whereby upon receipt of such an abbreviated number the intercept system outpulses to the PBX system an associated nonabbreviated telephone extension number.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a PBX intercept system wherein, in certain situations, a calling party can make a plurality of calls to the PBX switching system without the need of going on-hook after each such call.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a PBX intercept which provides the calling party with an instructional message, and where the calling party, upon recognizing the utilization of the intercept equipment, can dial during the message, or even before the message has substantially started.
A related object of the invention is to provide a PBX intercept system which is adapted to determine when a destination party has not answered a call, and to route such call to an alternative destination.
Another object of the invention is to provide a PBX intercept system which is adapted to integrate the personalized services of attendants with the call intercept capabilities.
A corollary object of the foregoing is to provide an increased flexibility with the PBX intercept by optimizing the personalized service offered by on-premises attendants so as to allow such attendants to respond to all incoming calls until the availability of the attendant is exhausted, and in this event the invention automatically intercepts the overflow calls and completes such calls as can actually be completed to the attendant-served on-premises switching system.
It is a subsidiary object of the invention to provide an enhanced flexibility with the PBX intercept system by affording a capability ranging from intercepting all calls to the interception of none of the calls, with an intermediate option of intercepting only those calls which are not answered by an attendant within a programmable period of time.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention which follows, together with the drawings.